A Matter of Perspective
by NNWest
Summary: Jack finds his place with Rose and the Doctor. The development of the OT3. Jack, Rose, 9th Doctor.
1. A Matter of Perspective

_TITLE: A Matter of Perspective_

AUTHOR: NNWest

DISCLAIMER: None of them are mine...but their universe is a lot of fun.

AN: I thank my dear beta readers glassunicorn77 and darkaegis! No idea where this came from. The conversation wouldn't leave my head until I wrote it down.

* * *

Rose sighed and gazed once again into her empty coffee cup. She sat alone at a small table outside the coffee bar designated as the rendezvous point, watching the foot-traffic and willing her companion to appear. Jack was late. Not so late she thought she should look for him, but getting there.

She made an exasperated noise and impatiently checked her watch. Again. Twenty minutes and counting. She had a pretty good idea what he was up to. It wasn't as if this was the first time he'd kept her waiting. And, though he was always apologetic for his tardiness, it still irked her. When she finally looked up, Rose was gratified to see Jack's tall, broad-shouldered form appear from around the corner.

As she watched him approach, she knew instantly she had been right about the reason for his lateness. That knowledge brought with it all the concerns that plagued Rose about his behaviour. She didn't need to see his slightly mussed hair or the rapidly fading red marks on his throat when he got close enough; they only served as confirmation. The swagger in his step and his broad grin even before he saw her were enough. She rolled her eyes. The irrepressible Captain Jack Harkness had got himself shagged.

"Hello, gorgeous," he called as he easily leapt over the short rail separating the cafe's outdoor seating area from the sidewalk. "Sorry I'm late, but mission accomplished." He plunked the little bag, presumably the object of his primary errand, on the table in front of her.

"Great." She stood and he re-pocketed the bag. "Let's go," she ordered, stalking out onto the sidewalk.

They walked without speaking for a while, Jack studying her with an occasional sideways glance. She pretended not to notice. Eventually, he had to break the silence. "What?"

"What 'what'?"

"I know that look. I can almost see the wheels turning, adding it all up and coming up with a total you don't like. So, out with it."

"'S nothing. Forget about it."

"Rose, it's obviously not nothing. If I upset you I want to know what I did."

She walked on, not responding.

He tried again, "Was it 'cause I was late?"

"No. You're late all the time." She sighed and under her breath added, "Usually because you've found someone to be late with."

He heard her just the same and was rocked back by the revelation. "Oh."

She drew up short. She really hadn't meant to hurt him. "No, Jack. I didn't mean it like that. You're you. It's what you've always done as long as I've known you. It's just that..." she trailed off not knowing how to finish, how to voice the questions she wanted to ask.

"Just that, what?"

"When you...you..." Her hands made a useless gesture as her mind searched for the words. "Are you safe?" She could see he was trying to follow her, but had no clue what she was trying to ask. "Did you use a condom?" she finally forced out.

"No." There it was, her worst fear confirmed.

"Shit, Jack!" Anger erupted in her, bringing stinging tears to her eyes. "Don't you know what's out there? All kinds of STDs, the mother of them all being AIDS. I mean..." Words failed her again.

"Oh Rose." He reached for her. She pulled away, tears flowing freely now. She wiped uselessly at them as he tried once more, "Rose, come here."

Jack looked around. Her outburst had drawn several pitying looks from the passers-by and he longed to draw her away and shield her from these voyeurs. Or, at the very least, to remove the argument from the middle of the busy sidewalk. "Please," he pleaded softly and she subsequently allowed herself to be coaxed to the edge of the walkway.

Jack leaned his back against a building's brickwork and settled her weight against him, bringing her head to rest on his chest. The cold stone's rough texture bit through his jacket somewhat and ruefully he remembered a similar sensation not an hour previous, during the encounter that earned him this trouble. "I'm sorry, Rose. It's all right," he soothed, trying to quiet her sobs.

She tensed, pulling back to thump him in the chest with a balled fist. "It's not all right!" she snapped. Rose tipped her head back to look him in the eye, her fury plainly visible. "Don't you see? I want you to stay safe." Her voice softened. "I care about you."

Jack pulled her back into his embrace. "Oh Rose, sweetie. I know that, but clearly I need to explain some things. I may be pretty, but I'm not stupid. Well, not usually," he admitted, pressing a light kiss against her hair. "I just didn't stop to think about things from a twentieth century-"

"Twenty-first," Rose mumbled into his chest.

He smiled and continued, "Twenty-first century viewpoint. Had I thought about it for two seconds, your worries would have been obvious. But, you have to remember I'm not from this time zone-"

"You can still be hurt, still die, even if you've not been born yet!" She recalled the shock she'd felt when the Doctor had told her that in a nineteenth century Welsh dungeon.

"I know that, too. That wasn't the point I was making. Not many years from now, science will have mapped the whole human genome. Before the end of the twenty-first century, they will crack the retrovirus mystery--that's HIV taken care of. Right around the same time, they cure cancer and a whole slew of other nasty diseases. The point is, I was immunised against most of them in utero--before I was born.

When I became a Time Agent, they inoculated me against anything else I might encounter in my operational time range--anything up through the 200th century. I'm not going to catch anything from a bit of fun."

Jack paused. Rose had stopped crying, quietly listening to him speak and letting him rock her gently. Now she clung to him, fists curled tightly in his jacket, silently considering his words. He felt her shiver against him as a sudden gust of chilling autumn breeze stirred the naked branches overhead and sent dry, fallen leaves skittering across the concrete. He folded her closer to him.

"And I'm sorry if I sometimes forget about your perspective. By the fifty-first century, the whole concept of 'safe sex' is foreign because there is no sex that's not safe. Apart from some of the really rough stuff, but that depends on your taste."

A long minute passed and Jack could sense she still had more to ask. "There's more you want to know, ask away."

"Was it a guy or a girl? Today, I mean."

"It was a man."

"Guess you don't have to worry about pregnancy that way," she mused.

"Don't have to worry either way. I'm sterile," Jack stated simply. "Shooting blanks as it were--another gift from the Time Agency. All operatives are implanted with a birth control device. Keeps anachronistic genetic material out of the gene pool."

She pulled back to look up at him in surprise. Compassion tinged her voice as she said, "You can't ever have kids?"

"Oh, the process is easily reversible. Just haven't bothered to have it removed. Haven't found the appropriate time and place for kids yet."

"Time and place." She gave a short laugh. "You forgot you need the girl, too. You found her yet?" she teased as she poked him lightly in the ribs.

He arrested her hands and brought them to his chest, bringing her close again. He smiled, but his tone was soft and serious as he looked into her eyes. "Maybe. I don't know. It's...complicated."

Taking a moment to decipher his words, Rose's astonished expression returned. "Me?"

"You." Jack lifted a hand to caress her jaw-line. At the tender touch, she pressed her cheek into his warm hand. He dipped his head to meet her lips in a soft and loving, but chaste, kiss.

"You never said," she breathed. Her arms slipped beneath his jacket to encircle his waist, hugging him tightly.

"And screw up what you and the Doctor have!" His smile turned rueful. "I said the situation was complicated. I've seen you with the Doctor, and him with you. Together, you're brilliant; there's no other word for it. You shine hot and bright, like a sun. I saw it the moment I teleported you both aboard my ship and I knew I couldn't interfere in it.

I think I told you I'm not dumb. I love you both," he admitted, "but you need to find your places with each other before any of us can know where mine is."

Her wide eyes were shining with fresh tears. Jack tsked as he pulled a pressed handkerchief from a pocket. "Don't do that," he murmured gently and dried Rose's tear-streaked cheeks, blotting away the smeared make-up from around her eyes. "I shudder to think what the Doctor's going to do to me when he finds out I made his Rose cry once, let alone twice."

A small smile appeared on her lips. "Like he has any room to talk."

"That's my girl," Jack beamed. "Telling him that might just save my hide. Now, we're late and the Doctor's waiting."

She took his hand and dragged him away from the wall. "And who's fault is that?" she chastised. She laughed at his feigned chastened expression. "Come on." 


	2. Getting Somewhere

_TITLE: Getting Somewhere_

_AUTHOR: NNWest_

_DISCLAIMER: None of them are mine...but their universe is a lot of fun._

_AN: Someone requested more and it appeared. I guess the characters weren't done with me. As always, I must thank my beta darkaegis (my very own Title Fairy)!_

* * *

The Doctor looked up from the console as his companions burst through the doors. They were laughing, cheeks rosy from the brisk air outside and, the Doctor noted with slight concern, their hands linked together. "You were supposed to be back half an hour ago. I was about to send out the hounds," he announced dryly. "What kept you?" 

"That was my fault," Jack admitted. "Sorry. But, I found what you were looking for." He dropped Rose's hand to dig in his pocket, coming up with a small crumpled bag which he offered to the Time Lord.

"You know, for a former Time Agent, you don't have much of a sense of it." As soon as he spoke, the Doctor's conscience pricked him for berating Jack. He knew Jack's touching Rose was probably quite innocent, but he couldn't help being miffed at the other man's casual familiarity with Rose--his Rose.

Rose apparently felt he had been too hard on Jack as well. She spoke up, "Now Doctor, be nice. He did find the part you need to fix the TARDIS."

The Doctor dug into the bag and examined the tiny glittering circuit. He did have to admit that Jack had done something he thought nearly impossible. He had procured an extremely advanced piece of temporal technology--something that would not be invented for several centuries--while they were stuck in the early twenty-first century, on Earth. When he had tracked down the problem with the TARDIS, the Doctor had been positive they would remain fixed in this time period until he could jury-rig something to limp them forward to a more technologically advanced time zone to find a replacement. Instead, Jack had stepped forward and within a few hours, he had the necessary part in his hand.

He softened his tone. "I'm sorry, Jack. Thank you."

Jack grinned. "Not a problem. Old Rudy owed me one--just one though. Next time, I think he's going to charge me full price. It's not easy to come by that kind of merchandise this early."

Rose stepped up to look at the component in the Doctor's hand. "So that's it? Just pop it in and we're on our way again?"

"Yup." The Doctor gave her a wide nearly-manic grin before he noticed the smudged make-up around her eyes and his expression fell. "Have you been crying? Rose, what happened?" he asked, concerned.

"Umm, that was my fault too," the ex-Time Agent confessed anxiously.

"It's nothing," Rose interjected quickly, embarrassed that she had let her emotions get away from her earlier. "Jack didn't mean anything by it and everything's fine now. Just leave it at that."

The Doctor appeared dubious but said nothing else. He fixed Jack with a brief reproving frown before he dropped down to crawl under the walkway grating that surrounded the TARDIS' control console to install Jack's acquisition. Within a few seconds, the background hum of the TARDIS took on a distinctly healthier tone and after the thump of a compartment door being driven home, the Doctor reappeared. Striding up the ramp to the console, he merrily proclaimed, "And we're off!"

* * *

The next couple of days saw a return to the TARDIS' crew's restless tour of space-time's trouble spots: a palace revolution here, a natural disaster or two there, an invasion of hostile aliens on this or that planet. Through it all, there was something that was nagging at the Doctor. Something in the dynamic between Rose and Jack had been altered and the Doctor found himself struggling to define it. 

They touched more, the Doctor realised one day as he watched Rose reach out and give Jack's shoulder a short squeeze as she wandered past him. If there had been anything remotely sexual in it or if things had changed between Rose and himself, the Doctor guiltily acknowledged to himself that he would have been hard-pressed not to dump the ex-Time Agent off on the next planet--breathable atmosphere or not. But, Rose still held his hand, still stood dangerously close to him, comforted and teased him as she always had. It was just that now when Rose's fingers were laced together with the Doctor's, her other hand sought out Jack's too.

More interesting was the change the Doctor had noticed in Jack. While Jack continued to flirt outrageously with anything that had a pulse, the Doctor and Rose included, it seemed his endless libidinous pursuit of pleasure had slowed considerably. In fact, since the day Jack and Rose had been late back to the TARDIS, Jack had not appeared interested in bedding any of the attractive individuals he had met during their adventures.

* * *

On one of their rare quiet evenings, Jack entered the lounge to find Rose and the Doctor sitting together on the sofa, the Doctor at one end and Rose on the centre cushion curled into his side. "You two are so cute," Jack observed. Rose had effectively pinned the Time Lord down and was probably watching some interminable love story from the TARDIS archive. This was nothing new and Jack had figured out a while ago that though the Doctor always complained about her viewing selection, he never got up to leave. 

Jack moved to sit down in one of the side chairs in the furniture grouping. "Whatcha doing clear over there?" Rose's voice drifted across to him. Jack looked over at her as she moved her legs making room for him on the third cushion. He smiled and sat down with them. He'd have been happy where he was--just to sit next to Rose, but she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him over to cuddle against her. As he settled into a comfortable position, he noted what he hoped was only bemusement and not any form of resentment in the other man's eyes. "Mmmm, warm," she murmured and snuggled a bit further into the Doctor.

Jack chuckled a bit. "Glad to know if things don't work out, I can always find employment as a blanket."

"I suspect you've covered quite a few people in your time."

"Touché, Doctor." If Jack was hurt by the criticism, he didn't show it and they all lapsed into silence.

Though Rose's video choice was every bit as dire as the Doctor liked to indicate, the time passed quite quickly for Jack and before he knew it Rose was stirring against him. He sat up so she could.

She yawned and stood. As she rubbed her eyes, she turned back to the Doctor. Leaning down, Rose pressed a chaste kiss to the Doctor's lips. She pulled back slightly and they gazed into each others' eyes for a long moment before she told him, "Good night." She moved to Jack, who tilted his head back and smiled up at her. "Good night, Jack." She bent to kiss his forehead.

"Goodnight, gorgeous," he whispered with a smirk. He was a little disappointed that he only rated a kiss on the head, but it was cancelled by the joy of knowing Rose was trying to move things forward with the Doctor. He watched her leave and turned back, intending to wish the Doctor a good night before retiring as well. Instead, Jack found he had to stifle a laugh when he saw the Doctor's slightly shell-shocked expression and dopey grin. Jack's wry smirk widened into a grin of his own.

The Doctor noticed. "And what are you grinning at?" he asked peevishly.

"The expression on your face is priceless. Was that the first time she's kissed you?"

"That, Captain, is none of your business." There was a touch of warning in his voice.

"That would be a 'yes'."

The Doctor frowned at the Time Agent's shrewd assessment. "And you can wipe that smug look off your face as well."

Jack tried without luck to look more solemn. "Hey, I'm genuinely happy for you. Rose already knows my feelings on the subject. I thought you two were perfect together the minute I met you." The Doctor's face was unreadable, so Jack continued, finally finding it in himself to be serious, "And despite what you may think of me, I would never try to come between you and Rose."

The Doctor considered Jack's words for a moment before nodding. "I believe you and I'm sorry that I ever doubted your intentions." He fell silent for a few more seconds, wondering if he wanted to know the answer to the question that had vexed him for the past few days. "What has changed between you and Rose? A few days ago, you said it was your fault she cried?"

It was Jack's turn to muse for a second. "I told her the truth when she asked. She wanted to know about my 'dancing'." A slight smile caressed his lips as he used their favourite euphemism. "It seems I made a miscalculation where Rose is concerned.

I want you to know that, while I would never do anything to take her from you, I do care very deeply for her. If called to, I will die to protect her, to shield her from anything that would rob her of the beautiful innocence she carries." Jack's proclamation had an edge of ferocity that left the Doctor with absolutely no doubts as to the man's sincerity.

The Doctor acknowledged Jack's promise with a nod. "And your miscalculation?" he inquired quietly.

"I assumed that she wouldn't do the same for me." He paused as he collected his thoughts. "I was blind and I didn't even think to look at things from her point of view, to see the way she worries about me." Jack sighed heavily and stared at nothing in particular. "So there you have it, Doctor. That's what's changed. Rose finally blew up and told me what a colossal idiot I've been and I finally believed her."

"You're not an idiot, Jack," the Doctor said gently.

"Insensitive, then...callous, heartless." Jack's gaze swept back to the Time Lord, remorse visible. "Take your pick, there are lots of words."

"And you're not any of those either. As you said, you made a miscalculation, a mistake. It's bound to happen, and Rose has obviously forgiven you. You need to forgive yourself." Jack just rolled his eyes in response.

The Doctor gave a humorless bark of a laugh. "You're right. That advice is decidedly easy to give and almost impossible to follow." Suddenly, he clapped his hands together and jumped up from the sofa. "Nothing else for it. C'mon Captain."

"Where are we going?"

"You look like you could use a drink, and I'm in a buying mood." He grinned at Jack.

Jack stood, feeling his spirits lift some. "I thought I was the one who had to buy if I wanted to get anywhere with you."

The Doctor flung a friendly arm over the other man's shoulders and steered him in the direction of the TARDIS kitchen. "Even so, I wouldn't say you were nowhere."

Jack's eyes widened and he could only stare at the Doctor. In his life surprise had left him speechless very few times, but this was certainly one of them.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "What, no comeback? You really do need that drink."


	3. Finding Home

_TITLE: Finding Home_

_AUTHOR: NNWest_

_DISCLAIMER: None of them are mine...but their universe is a lot of fun._

_AN: Thanks for reading, the comments have been great! This is going to be the last part to this fic (probably). For some reason it wanted to stay within the televised cannon (with a few chaste kisses thrown in). Gotta thank my beta Gillian Taylor(darkaegis)._

* * *

He was waking, but had yet to open his eyes. Idly he took stock of his situation. He was in a bed and his head didn't hurt, both positive signs. Though, he couldn't feel another body near to his or hear anything in the room that would indicate he was anything but alone. "A definite negative there," he mused. Jack turned his consideration to what had happened the night before. 

His mind ticked over and he remembered sharing a drink with the Doctor. The Doctor! His eyes flew open as the words from last night filtered through his brain. "I wouldn't say you were nowhere." That's what the Doctor had said. He also remembered ruefully the way his mind had seized up when the Doctor had said that.

Inwardly, Jack cringed. He had found himself laid to waste by an off-hand comment by a man he had thought only tolerated him. He prided himself on never getting caught out like that. A quick mind and a silver tongue were gifts that had served him well during his career as a Time Agent, but had served him better during his follow-up profession conning his former employer. He couldn't believe how easily his equilibrium had been disrupted by one short sentence.

Now wide awake, he stared sightlessly at the ceiling and the tumult of his thoughts returned to consider the words again. Not 'nowhere', meaning he was 'somewhere'? But what did that mean--more than tolerance certainly, but more than friendship?

The previous night the Doctor had led him to the kitchen after he'd casually dropped that bombshell of a statement. He'd produced a dark glass bottle from a cupboard, poured two fingers of the stuff into a glass, and handed it to Jack with a stern warning to 'go easy'. Jack had laughed off the advice, sure his tolerance was high enough to handle anything the Doctor could throw at him. The second swallow of the amber liquor assured him he was wrong as it kicked him in the head the way his third hypervodka usually did. When he had inquired as to the drink's origin, the Doctor had quietly told him he needn't worry about it, that the source was long gone. Jack grieved to see the infinite sadness settle into the Doctor's eyes at the question and instantly wished he hadn't spoken at all.

From there the conversation had turned to the mundane, centring on maintenance the Doctor wanted to perform on the TARDIS and their inevitable need to refuel. And much as Jack yearned for another clue, some further clarification, from the other man about just where 'somewhere' was, the answer never came.

After nursing his way through the remainder of his glass' contents, he had felt the need for sleep tug resolutely at him and had in turn reluctantly bid the Time Lord a good night. He'd gone to his room, the alcohol--if it was alcohol--muting the churn of his thoughts enough that he had fallen straight into bed and into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Jack thrust himself out of bed, needing to escape the renewed clamor in his head. Padding to the bath, he stared hard at himself in the mirror. He was sure there was a time not so very long ago that he would not have questioned his own motives in this way. It was not until he met Rose, met the Doctor, had the idea been rekindled that someone he took to bed could be more than just a pretty pastime.

He knew he wanted them in 1941 London. Jack had decided there, separately or together, he would have this beautiful pair. Unbidden, love had followed too quickly on the heels of lust and he tried to ignore it. He'd examined the feeling and attempted to push it away, to dismiss it and lock it away someplace safe. In his experience, that path only led to pain and he'd had quite enough of that. Time and again it arose and he desperately tried to maintain his distance; he fought not to get attached to this angel of light and her dark lord, clinging to what he knew: the hunt, the chase, the release. He fought, and failed. How many of the intervening encounters had it been his fantasy of Rose that was under him, the Doctor inside him? How many times had he returned to them, physically sated, but emotionally starved?

When the Doctor had finally asked him what existed between himself and Rose, the most Jack had been hoping for was to allay the Doctor's fears that he was trying to steal Rose from him. He had been all too aware of the Time Lord's jealous protectiveness of Rose and the way it had been aimed squarely at him for the last several days. True, he had wanted to divert the other man's animosity and scrutiny away from himself, but he knew also that he truly wanted the Doctor and Rose to be happy. If that meant he had to put aside his own feelings, he'd make the sacrifice willingly. Jack smiled ruefully to his reflection and tried to remember when he had become a noble person.

He washed and dressed and headed for the kitchen where he found a pyjama-clad Rose. Walking past, he couldn't resist putting a hand out and ruffling her sleep-mussed blonde hair. At his touch, she smiled up at him through her toast. "Morning," she mumbled around her mouthful.

Jack just laughed and scrounged in the cupboard for a mug. "Quite the coup you pulled off last night," he said conversationally as he poured coffee into the mug.

"Whadya mean?" Her tone indicated she knew exactly what he was talking about but was going to make him spell it out.

"You didn't stick around to see his reaction to your 'Good night'."

Rose blushed slightly, but the glint in her eyes told him she was dying to know more. He took a sip from his mug, teasing her with his silence, before moving to respond to her unspoken demand. He crossed quickly to the doorway and cast a glance into the corridor to ensure the Doctor's arrival was not imminent and scurried back to the table. Finally, Jack pulled up a chair to huddle conspiratorially close to Rose.

"It was perfect," he said, his voice low, his eyes aglow with excitement. Rose was momentarily reminded of the way she used to gossip about boys with Shareen.

"What did he say?" Her own excitement sparked.

"He didn't _say_ anything, but I'm going to remember that look on his face for the rest of my life. That man is completely in love with you."

As if summoned by the hushed conversation about him, the Doctor strode into the kitchen. He caught sight of Jack and Rose in their plotting posture and he raised an eyebrow at them. "That's never a good sign this early in the day. Talking about me?"

His companions parted, Rose guiltily, Jack with a mischievous grin. "I was just telling her that her next move should be to pin you against a wall and ply you with a much more involved kiss. That is, before she strips you and has her wicked way."

Rose blushed furiously at Jack's recommendation and the Doctor laughed. "Sounds like a page from your book, Jack. Giving lessons, are we?" he said as he came to stand behind Rose and place a hand on her shoulder as he did most mornings. This morning, however, he allowed his hand to slide across her neck, gently lifting her chin so her head was tipped back. Smiling down at her, he bent and returned her previous night's kiss as a "Good morning" before grabbing a chair and twisting it around to straddle it.

"Hey, do I get one of those too?"

"What did I say?" He grinned across at Jack. "Drink first," he said, stealing the last piece of toast off Rose's plate.

At the Doctor's move, the blissful expression she had been regarding him with slipped away. "Hey, you think just 'cause you kiss a girl you can nick her breakfast," Rose told him, feigning affront.

Jack smiled, partly because he'd been contemplating the same act before the Doctor arrived. Partly because he knew Rose always made more than she would ever eat in anticipation of the event. Apparently, she'd learned early on that with the Doctor--and now Jack--in her life, she'd starve if she didn't.

"Nope," the Doctor was saying teasingly. "I expected that 'cause I kissed the girl, she wouldn't argue for once."

"Too cute," Jack opined to no one in particular. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"Thinking we might go to Japan sometime. Heard Kyoto is nice." Rose crinkled her nose slightly at the Doctor's destination selection.

"Aw, come on. Could be interesting," Jack commented. When Rose shot him a questioning look as to why he thought so, he gave her one word, "Geisha." She laughed and rolled her eyes.

The Doctor shrugged at her indifference. "Doesn't have to be today. Think about it. There is something I'd like to check out in Paris."

"Always a good choice." Jack's gaze turned distant for a moment. "Lots of things to check out in Paris."

"Among other things..." He looked pointedly at Jack. "There's a time rift. The TARDIS' original power generation method is no longer an option." Both his companions noticed a small amount of sadness creep into his expression before he continued. "As I told Jack last night, before too long we're going to have to refuel, as it were. Fill up the power cells."

"There's the rift in Cardiff, too." Now there was pain in her eyes as well and Jack wondered about that story. The Doctor reached out and took her hand.

"True enough." The Doctor gave her a faint smile. "But considering the refuel may well take a few days, I ask you, which city would you prefer?"

In the end, the answer had been Paris. A quick scan proved the rift nonviable for their purposes; it seemed they would be going to Cardiff after all. But, the trio had made the best of the day in the city, seeing the sights and eating the food.

Saying it was the only way to experience the city, the Doctor had turned off the TARDIS translator and left his companions to struggle with the language, much to everyone's, especially Rose and Jack's, amusement. And while the Doctor hadn't been kissed by any complete strangers--his fingers securely entwined with Rose's had probably scared off any who would dare, Jack mused--Jack had collected one or two before the day was out.

Moonlight sparkled on the water of the Seine as they strolled along the walkway. The path they tread was deserted apart from a few young lovers, the three of them locked together no less tightly than the couples they encountered. When they had left the tiny cafe, Rose had flung her arm around the Doctor's waist and pulled him close, his arm settling warmly around her shoulders. A short distance later when Jack had strayed near, she had laughingly snared him with her other arm. His arm around her, his hand fell at her hip; emboldened by the fine house red they'd shared with dinner, Jack hooked a finger through the Doctor's belt loop. The move had earned him a beleaguered look, but there had been amusement glittering in the Doctor's eyes and, more promising, no move made to deter him.

Rose sighed contently as if she had not a care in the world. She let her eyes flutter closed, letting her escorts carry her forward. "My boys."

"Our girl," Jack confirmed softly.

She opened her eyes and smiled sweetly up at him. "I like that."

"I do too." Impulsively, he dipped his head to catch her lips with his. Her smile widened and she rested her head against his arm as she squeezed his waist. Jack looked across to the Doctor, relieved to see only affection in the Time Lord's satisfied smile. He grinned, he could do nothing else.

The Doctor regarded his companions: Rose warm at his side as she snuggled between himself and Jack, Jack grinning wildly, happy in the moment; his skin still slightly flushed from the wine. All of them together, this was right. He found himself to be as content as Rose and Jack appeared to be. He was even pleasantly surprised that he felt only a certain fondness for the pair when Jack had kissed Rose.

They strolled on in easy silence, each basking in the loving company of the others and letting the path lead them back to the TARDIS, letting it lead them home.


End file.
